The holiday season holds a weird little place in my heart as both the happiest and saddest time of the year. And I’m not alone in this belief -- a lot of people actually believe the adage that suicides and depression rates spike around this time.

However, “holiday blues” aren’t scientifically a thing -- in fact, based on studies done by the Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital, suicides and depression rates actually go down a significant amount in December. There is seasonal affective disorder, in which the shortened days cause your body to produce more melatonin and therefore cause you to feel sleepier and more lethargic all the time. But overall, the statistics don’t really show a leap in unhappiness. As expected with holidays, if anything, people are generally happier, which would seem to make sense.

So why do people expect that increase in depression during the holiday season?

Well, I know why I feel down during the holiday season, at least. It’s the time of year where friends and family gather to exchange gifts and hugs, yes, but it’s also the time when Salvation Army Santas line the streets only to be ignored, and the homeless are even more visible beneath twinkling Christmas lights. It’s a time of giving, but then, also a time of capitalism and inequality.

I remember visiting New York City with a few friends of mine in late November, and we saw a great deal at the luxury chocolate store, Lindt, on Fifth Avenue. We went in and ended up buying a ludicrous amount of truffles in all different flavors -- 75 in all, more chocolate than any one of us really needed. But the Rockefeller tree was up, the dazzling Lord and Taylor windows had been dramatically revealed, and electric snowflakes danced down the sides of the skyscrapers. It was the holiday season, and so naturally, we wanted to treat ourselves.

But then, I remember us heading back out to the street to a blast of cold air and a beggar asking us for just a few cents. And I remember our laughter stopping abruptly and our eyes immediately casting downwards, as we all mumbled, “Sorry, we don’t have anything to spare.” We had just bought 75 luxury chocolates, and we wouldn’t even give the beggar the change.

When I go home for Christmas, I know that there’ll be a lit up tree with wrapped gifts beneath. And although it’s always in the back of my mind that lots of people don’t have that, it’s still jarring when the realization hits full on. If I’m perfectly honest, it’s a truth that I’d rather not face during what’s supposed to be the happiest time of the year.

See, I’m not trying to write this article from the top of a soapbox, because I’m just as guilty as anyone else when it comes to this stuff. I use my money on wrapping paper and ribbons and trivial gag gifts when that money could be going towards feeding somebody instead. I’m not saying that all of your excess income should be donated immediately, but during the holiday seasons, the spirit of giving should extend a little farther than just presents and Secret Santas.

Giving doesn’t even have to be in the form of giving money to the homeless; it can be a few dollars for a cause you believe in. It can be some volunteering hours in between inevitable Netflix marathons, now that finals are over. It can be baking for a neighbor you’ve never really talked with before, or a quick, genuine conversation with a cashier at the local supermarket. But if the holidays are truly about giving, instead of trying to buy the holiday spirit through material goods, we should go out of our way to give a little of ourselves to others.

We might not all have a lot to give, but there’s always someone out there who’s worse off than us, so our job during the holiday season is to find that someone and make them happy at least for a little while. It’ll be like a gift to ourselves, too. According to University of British Columbia psychology professor Elizabeth Dunn, giving to charity actually makes us happier and healthier.

It’s not like any of this is new. We all know that we should be more giving, not just during the holiday season, but during the entire year. But the difference is not in thinking about giving versus not thinking about giving. The difference is between thinking about it, and actually taking the time and effort to do it; “should” versus “did.”

Habits and stigmas are hard to change, but this holiday season, I’m going to try to make someone else happy instead of just wondering why I don’t feel happy. Happy holidays to all!